Golden Haze

Part Three: The Flow of Blood

by Golden Lady Serenity

*Standard disclaimers apply. I do not own Sailormoon, nor do I make any claim to it. Though I do lay claim to my mangas and soundtracks. ^_~ Sailormoon belongs to Takeuchi Naoko, Toei, Cloverway, Pioneer, and gods know who else. Please don't sue me. I'm far too poor.*

*A/N: This chapter contains harsh swearing and violence. And legality. I know nothing of the Japanese legal system, though...*


As soon as the scream had exited Minako's lips, she looked up, to see Rei and Makoto, both of them with fury written all over their faces. Karasu rose halfway, when without a hint of warning Rei rushed at him, throwing him back to the ground with a satisfying thud. "Thank you!" Minako said, exceedingly grateful. At the thought of what could have--would have--occurred, she burst into tears. A single question broke the tableau.

"What in Hell is going on here?!" roared a female officer: Kyoumou. The same one that had drove Usagi and Makoto to the shrine. It had become apparent that something was very wrong once she'd heard that scream, and she'd rushed into the source, to see a fallen cop, a sobbing girl, and two furious ones. She gave a swift perusal of the sobbing blonde and noticed the disarray of her clothes, and a nagging suspicion made itself more and more unknown. "I said, what's going on here?" she asked again, a bit more commandingly. Damn it if she wasn't going to know just what had prompted this scene!

Minako looked up, a sickly expression on her face. "He...he...he tried to ra--" Suddenly something flung her back against the granite--by now it had been established as a statue.

"Shut up, you stupid little whore," Karasu hissed, malice dripping from his lips. He knew as soon as he heard Kyoumou's voice that he'd be charged with some form of crime, and that goody two-shoes fool would be more inclined to trust some teenaged idiot than another cop. So he'd deal with this his way. A gleam came into his eyes as he moved his grand to grope Minako, the move never quite finished.

It was obvious to all that this was a madman, as they kept their guards up. As soon as Karasu's hand had moved, he was bodychecked by an enraged Makoto, and straight into Rei's fist, with a loud CRACK! Karasu regained his equilibrium a moment later, and, grabbing his nightstick, knocked Rei's legs out from under her. As the girl fell, he brought up a foot, and kicked her midsection. With a loud gasp and a loss of saliva, she hit the ground. And rose again. Karasu moved to strike her down once more, but something knocked the wind out of him: Makoto's outstretched leg, directly against his chest, followed by a kick to his head. He fell back, dazed, then made a lunge for Makoto; a feint. Whirling around, he dropped the nightstick and grabbed his sidearm with his right hand, the other grabbing Minako by the neck. In a matter of seconds, he had his fingers around the blonde's throat in a clearly painful grip while his gun was pointed directly at her skull.

"Don't any of you fuck with me." He clicked the safety off, and tightened his grip on the horrified girl's throat.

Kyoumou had quietly moved out of sight, and had her own gun pointed at Karasu. She looked in Rei's direction, and made eye contact. The officer's eyes then flicked down to the fallen melee weapon, and to Karasu. Rei nodded imperceptibly. With a kick of her foot she bounced the weapon up off the ground and with lightning reflexes she brought the nightstick up under Karasu's right hand, knocking it and the gun it held away from Minako. A shot rang out from the weapon, aimed at an angle that most approached the sky, and the gun fell with a loud clattering. As soon as the gun had left Minako's head, she spun around and away from the crazed officer. Makoto and Rei both moved to restrain him.

Seeing an opening, Kyoumou moved to cuff Karasu. She grabbed a hand, forcing it behind his back. Then the other, when disaster struck.

Enraged at his predicament, that he'd been beaten down by this little whore and her worthless friends, and about to be apprehended like a common criminal, he wrenched his arms out of Kyoumou's grip, and made a lunge for the gun he'd dropped. 'One of these moronic, worthless bitches is going to get theirs and they're gonna get it up their moronic ass...' he thought, wild-eyed. Shaking, furious, mad, he fired.

Red liquid sprayed in every direction, coupled with a gnarled, gurgling sound, something like a cry of shock and pain, but so much worse. A black-garbed, braided form fell to the ground: Kyoumou, with a disturbing lot of blood puddling around her midsection. Karasu grinned. "There you go. That's what you get you little sluts." He slammed his fists into Makoto and Rei's guts, one of them receiving not only merciless, bony knuckles, but hard metal as well. Breathless, they could no longer gain the strength to rise up and retaliate. His attention returned to Minako. "And if you don't cooperate I'm going to shoot all of you. So get against that statue and let me get down to business."

Frightened, Minako did as she was told, and backed up against the hated granite. With wide, terrified eyes she watched as Karasu approached her, slithered as it were. Once more he grabbed her, and began to maul her flesh. She tried to ignore him, to simply let her mind drift from the horror that had enveloped her so quickly. The insane police officer continued in his perversions, grabbing her breasts, her thighs, groaning sick promises in her ears. Her shirt was pulled down at the shoulder, ripped partially, near exposing her chest. Fear echoed through her, a soundless scream through her soul. Blue eyes snapped open, pure hatred in them.

With no regard for safety she made a grab for the gun, wrenched it with almost inhuman force from Karasu, and, as soon as she'd aimed the weapon, fired. Once more red monopolized the scene, a spray that marked the area in crimson splatters, signs of horror, pain, fear. Karasu looked down at the gaping hole in his sternum, and with a gasp, collapsed forward, then folded at the knees, the life draining from him along with his own blood.

Rei was the first to gain possession of herself. "Mi...Minako-chan...are you all right?" As the blonde swayed and fainted. Rei moved to catch her, and looked over at the brunette. "Mako-chan, we gotta get help..." in a weary tone. Her eyes took in the scene, two dead police officers, a fainted Minako, blood everywhere...'This place isn't ever going to be the same. We won't be. Minako certainly won't...'

"Helps on its way," an almost forgotten voice stated. Ami, holding, of all things, a digital camcorder. "Evidence," she said.

From there on ordered panic reigned. Police and paramedics collected the dead and otherwise. All those who had survived the ordeal were destined for the police station.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Several faces looked at the judge anxiously. Judge Kyuui. Somehow they'd managed to avoid a public trial, simply conferred with the judge, a couple of lawyers, the legal texts, and the video. Once more Kyuui and the lawyers conferred in legal shorthand. "Indeed." The judge looked up. "After reveiwing the evidence extensively, Miss Aino, Miss Kino, and Miss Hino will not be charged with the counts of murder or assualt that the law demands. The court will rule that your actions were of self-defense, and all charges will be dropped immediately. However, it appalls me to think of the conditions that lead to this situation." He turned his gaze to Minako's parents.

They'd handled their arrest like professionals, and almost gon on their way. Until they'd found the small white packet. On both of them. Perhaps Eriko refrained from drug abuse, but apparently not possession. Kei on the other hand had not only been caught with possesion but tested positive for substance abuse as well. Their sentence was six months, with arrangements for Minako to stay with Ami and her mother. Now they sat looking like upstanding citizens, in smart blues and blacks: when you went before a judge, you dressed for the occasion. They hadn't realized the extent of the trouble when they saw their bruised and shaken daughter or her friends. They hadn't realized the extent when they'd recieved a court order and heard first hand the charges against Minako and her friends. Now, after several days, several meetings, and several replays of the video, they could well understand what was going on.

"So, you're saying that the officer's attack on my daughter was the cause of our...backgrounds?" Mr. Aino asked, cautious.

"No." Kyuui leaned back a moment. "No, I can't believe that anyone could have foreseen that Mrs. Aino's previous history would have such a disasterous effect on your daughter's life, nor could any of us have foreseen Officer (I use the term loosely) Karasu would become mentally imballanced until eight days ago. No, I'm referring to your fights, but not your history. Miss Aino felt it necessary to inform the police about the altercation, the results we are all now familiar with. I would prefer that a teenager need not inform the local authorities of their parents' fights, but unfortunately, my wishlist is long and a great much of it is has not been granted." He sighed, and rubbed his temples. "It is the order of this court that every third week, beginning Wednesday, May 14th, the Aino family show up at the Familial Councelling Center, to meet with Ms. Fuhen on the third floor at 3:45 p.m." He paused. "Sentencing however remains the same. On the appointed dates a guard will escort Mr. and Mrs. Aino, each. Now, I think that handles everything, at least at the moment." He rose, and indicated the others should leave.

Everyone filed out, each lost in their own thoughts.

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Well, that was Chapter 3. ^_^ Hope you've had fun reading this. Now to confer with my muse and write chapter 4. ^_^ Tell me whatcha think!